


Scope

by Luonto



Series: across the stars [1]
Category: LOONA (Korea Band), Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dubious Consent to Body Modifications, Espionage, Girls with Guns, Imperial Agent Jinsol and Haseul, Implied Jinseul, Manipulation, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Other, Robotic Implants, Roommates, Threatening someone with a knife, it's not super bad but it's kind of creepy and unsettling, mild eye horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-02 01:12:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19188880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luonto/pseuds/Luonto
Summary: As a trainee in the Imperial Intelligence academy, Jinsol had always stood out for her technique, but always hesitated before making the final shot. One offer from a high-ranking agent could changer all that.But in the world of Imperial Intelligence, offers aren't always what they appear to be, and Jinsol may have gotten more than what she bargained for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit of backstory for the interactive Loona/SWTOR AU I'm writing on Twitter (@werewolfhyejoo if you're interested). It delves a bit deeper into Jinsoul's backstory while she's training as an agent and mainly focuses on her experiences in the academy. If you're new to Star Wars, it might be a tad confusing, but I've tried my best to explain things as I go along. It's a strange crossover, but a bit of a passion project of mine
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The world always seemed to look different through my scope. It was like a sort of filter that stripped away everything except the target, allowing me to wait for the right moment with a sort of clinical detachment. At least, that’s how it was with the training dummies as I stood in line with the other recruits as a woman in the uniform of an Imperial officer barked instructions at us. I fidgeted a bit, letting the rifle drop and wiping at my eyes before raising it again. One finger curled around the trigger, one eye squeezed shut while the other stared through the scope as I lined up the perfect shot. I braced myself and pulled the trigger, flinching slightly as the sound of the gunshot rang out and the recoil vibrations traveled back down the barrel. The training dummy fell backwards, the bullet having pierced it right between where the eyes would be. The instructor looked over and nodded approvingly.  
“Nice shooting, recruit. We’ll make an agent of you yet.”  
“Thank you, sir,” I replied, grinning nervously. The instructors and other intelligence agents always gave me the creeps. They were always so cold and detached, like the world around was just some sort of puzzle to solve. I shook my head to dispel the thoughts, lining up another shot, then stiffened. They had swapped out the dummy I’d dispatched with a much more lifelike one. The painted facial features were unnervingly realistic, those huge eyes staring back at me. I adjusted my stance and lined up the shot, my finger poised to pull the trigger.  
But I couldn’t do it. It was too real, too human. My hands were shaking, my fingers felt heavy.  
What are you doing? I mentally chastised myself. Take the shot, Jinsol! It’s just a stupid dummy!  
“Jinsol?”  
I startled and pulled the trigger in surprise, flinching as the bullet missed its mark and embedded itself in the wall. One of the other recruits was staring at me- Jo Haseul, my roommate.  
“Are you okay? You hesitated just now.” Her voice was full of misguided concern. Haseul was a model student who never let her feelings get in the way of training. She thought something was wrong- and maybe something was wrong, if I couldn’t bring myself to shoot a simple training dummy.  
“I… I’m just tired, is all,” I lied. “Been up late recently, hehe. Nothing to worry about.”  
Haseul looked at me oddly, then shrugged and turned away, raising her own rifle. I sighed and looked down at my trembling hands.  
Why did I have to end up here, of all places?

 

A sharp, high-pitched whistle rang out, signifying the end of class. I followed the other recruits back to the weapon storage room, chatting idly with Haseul.  
“Nice shooting today,” I commented, placing my rifle back onto the weapons rack.  
“You think? My technique’s all sloppy.” Haseul sighed regretfully. “Not like yours. Your stance is perfect. If you could just make the shot…”  
“Yeah, yeah, I know, I’d be one of the top students,” I finished her sentence, rolling my eyes. “You’ve told me that so many times that I’ve lost count.”  
“Then maybe it’s about time you started working on it.” Haseul hung up her rifle next to mine and quickly made sure everything was in place before striding out of the storage room. I snorted and flipped her off, then froze when I noticed an officer staring at me. I stared back, shivers running down my spine when he raised his hand and beckoned me to come closer. Every nerve in my body was screaming out at me to run, but I remembered the rules around here and knew all too well what the punishment was for refusing the demands of an officer. I gulped and walked forward, taking in the man’s appearance. He was tall, with lightly tanned skin and a neatly shaven face. Greasy-looking strands of long brown hair hung limply next to sunken cheeks and wide, inquisitive eyes that seemed to bore into my mind, picking out my secrets.  
“Jung Jinsol, am I correct?” he asked. I nodded nervously.  
“Watcher Five, Imperial Intelligence. I’ve been observing your cohort for quite some time, and your skills have impressed me. You would make a fine sniper someday.”  
“Thank you, sir,” I replied, my voice wavering.  
“Please, there’s no need to be nervous.” The corners of his mouth twitched upward slightly in what I presumed was a smile- or at least an attempt at one. “I’m here to make you an offer. While your technique is of a high standard for a trainee, you’re still… lacking, in some areas. I could provide you with the tools and training you need to surpass all of your classmates.”  
The offer was tempting, that was for sure, but there was something off about it all. Watchers were a shady bunch- always lurking in the shadows and keeping an eye on things back at the main headquarters in the citadel. They didn’t interact with cadets, leaving that to lesser agents and the instructors.  
“What kind of tools and training?” I asked, trying to discern any hint of his true motives.  
“Oh, just a few sessions with me back at the citadel on some more advanced sniping techniques to help you approach it more… naturally. You tend to hesitate before shooting, and he who hesitates has already lost.” Watcher Five narrowed his eyes and placed a hand on my shoulder. I tensed up and tried to wriggle away, but his grip was firm.  
“You’re skilled, Jung Jinsol, but the world of Imperial Intelligence is a harsh one with no room for those who can’t cut it,” he whispered. “If you want to graduate and make it off Dromund Kaas alive, I suggest that you accept my offer.”  
I gulped, weighing up my options in my head. Watcher Five wasn’t going to let me go so easily, but his offer left a bad taste in my mouth. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, that was for sure. Something about this didn’t seem right, but what other options did I have?  
I hesitated, then nodded slowly, a pit beginning to form in my stomach.  
“It’s a deal.”  
“Good, good. Come with me, then. We leave for the citadel immediately.”

We boarded a shuttle parked outside the academy and sped through the jungles towards Kaas City. I tried to shake off the uneasy feeling that had been growing inside me since I’d accepted Watcher Five’s offer. He’d barely spoken once we’d left the academy- even more reason to be nervous. I sighed and watched the trees fly by. There wasn’t much I could do for now, at least. Besides, maybe he did actually want to help me get better.  
The trees abruptly came to an end and the grey walls of Kaas City loomed up ahead. The shuttle slid through the gates and ducked in and out of traffic as it made its way towards the citadel, where the headquarters of Imperial Intelligence were located. The streets below were teeming with life; Imperial officers, troopers, bounty hunters and Sith hurried past, going about their business without taking much notice of others. The shuttle approached the landing pads in the center of the city, then veered sharply to the right and began its ascent towards the Sith citadel. Its towering grey walls never failed to impress me- or make me almost shit bricks out of fear. The citadel was home to the Mandalorian Enclave and the headquarters of both the Sith and Imperial Intelligence. One wrong step in there could send my head rolling across the floor. 

Watcher Five led me through Intelligence headquarters, glancing back ever so often to make sure I was still following. The inside of the citadel was a labyrinth of corridors and large, open rooms where agents bustled about taking care of all sorts of tasks. It was oddly silent in here, apart from the occasional snatch of whispered conversation or the sound of my heart beating in my ears, which was so loud I thought the whole building could hear it.  
We stopped outside a grey, unmarked door, and Watcher Five ushered me inside. The door shut behind us with a loud clang and I almost jumped out of my skin before taking in my surroundings. The room was large and empty for the most part, with a long, metallic-looking table placed in the centre. Several odd-looking implements rested on top of it, and the nervous feeling in my stomach began to grow larger.  
“What is this place?” I asked Watcher Five, who was busy pulling something out of his pockets. It looked like a mask of some sort.  
“An implant laboratory,” he answered nonchalantly, pulling the mask over his nose and mouth.  
“An implant lab- wait, hold on a second!” I yelled, grabbing onto his arm, but he merely shook it off and pressed a button on the wall that I hadn’t noticed before.  
“What are you going to do to me?”  
Watcher Five said nothing- he just stood there, like he was expecting something. Panic began to rise in my throat when I noticed a strange smell in the air. My eyes widened and I hastily covered my mouth and nose with my hand, but it was too late. The room began to spin, that strange, sickly sweet smell sticking in my throat. I coughed and spluttered as my knees began to give out, and the last thing I saw was the figure of Watcher Five looming over me and reaching downwards to carry me away. 

When I came to, I was lying down on something cold and hard. I groaned and tried to shake the fog from my brain. My whole body felt numb and heavy, and something near my left eye itched. I raised a hand to scratch it and froze when my fingers came into contact with metal and wires.  
Oh no.  
I struggled to sit up and found myself sitting on the table in the center of the laboratory from earlier. My head was spinning as I jumped clumsily onto the floor, scanning the room for any sort of reflective surface so I could see what the Watcher had done to me while I was knocked out. Everything seemed too bright, too sharp- I passed it off as a side effect of the gas.  
“Ah, you’re awake.”  
And there he was, standing in the corner of the room, shrouded in shadow.  
“You…” I growled, staggering forwards. “What the fuck did you do?”  
“Patience, Jung Jinsol. It would be unwise to make any sudden movements while your body is adjusting to the recent improvements.”  
“Improvements? You knocked me out, you sick fuck!” I yelled. “What did you do to me?”  
Watcher Five took my arm and led me over to one of the walls, pressing buttons on a panel nearby. The tiles seemed to retreat inwards and a mirror slid out to take their place.  
“Look there, and you’ll find the answer to your questions.”  
I pried his hand off my arm and strode forwards, then gasped when I saw myself in the mirror. My left eye was gone. In its place was a piece of delicate-looking metal surrounding a red lens that shifted and contracted when my right eye did the same.  
“An ocular implant, to help you aim. The lens is 100 times stronger than your old eye, and can be linked to your rifle. With this, you will certainly surpass all the other cadets in your cohort,” Watcher Five stated proudly. But I barely registered what he’d said. All I could focus on was the implant, watching as it mirrored the movements of my right eye. It looked unnatural. It felt unnatural. It ached and itched where the metal met my skin. And everything felt magnified- it was like looking through my scope, without the tunnel vision that came with it. It almost hurt to see.  
“This isn’t what I wanted… this isn’t what you promised at all!” It started as a whisper, but as panic overtook me it turned into a shout. I spun around and grabbed Watcher Five by the front of his uniform.  
“Take it out!” I screamed. “Take it out and give me my eye back!”  
Watcher Five sighed. “I cannot do that. Even if I could reverse the procedure, your old eye was disposed of before the implant was installed.”  
I froze. My heart felt like it had fallen to the floor and shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. I felt like crying, but everything felt frozen. Instead I screamed and threw Watcher Five to the floor before dashing out of the laboratory. It was only when I’d made it out of the citadel and was sitting in the back of a shuttle that the tears started streaming down my cheeks from my remaining eye. 

It was dark when I made it back to the academy dorms. I’d planned to slip inside quietly without disturbing Haseul, but she was still awake, poring over a book at her desk.  
“You’re back! Where did you… go..” Her voice trailed off once she caught sight of the implant.  
“Holy shit. Where did you get that?”  
I sniffed and pushed past her, flopping down onto my bunk.  
“Some… shady Watcher tricked me into it… he turned me into a monster…”  
“Whoa whoa whoa, hold on, implants don’t make you a monster, Jinsol!”  
“I didn’t want it, though! He lied to me, he fucking gassed me, Haseul!” The tears came back again, and I angrily wiped them away.  
“It… it itches and aches and feels so unnatural and everything’s so bright and magnified and shit- Haseul, it hurts to look at things and I can’t take it out…”  
To my surprise, Haseul wrapped her arms around me, rubbing small circles into my back. I hiccuped and sobbed into her shoulder until she gently pulled away.  
“We’ll make this work, Jinsol. We’ll track down the Watcher and make him tell you how to make it less uncomfortable. In the meantime, though…” She hummed and wandered over to the closet, pulling out an old shirt and ripping off part of the sleeve.  
“It’s less than ideal, but… we could cover the implant with this, pass it off as a training accident or something. Maybe things won’t hurt to look at as much then.”  
“I… it’s okay… you didn’t need to rip up your shirt,” I mumbled. “I’ll.. adjust to it.”  
“You sure? I can go get some bandages or something, if you want.” Her voice was full of concern- genuine, human concern instead of the misguided agent concern she usually showed. It made my heart melt.  
“If it’s not too much, then… that’d be great thanks.”  
Haseul nodded and slipped out of the room, and I flopped back onto my bunk with a sigh, absentmindedly scratching at the implant.  
The world had always looked different through my scope. Now, that same magnified, clinical observation was an unavoidable, constant part of my life as I scanned the world with a robotic eye.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After writing the first fic, I kind of felt like expanding on it a bit, so I wrote a part 2! Hope you guys enjoy!

Haseul returned an hour or so later, clutching a roll of bandages to her chest.   
“Here,” she mumbled, selecting a length of bandage and carefully wrapping it around the implant. The world went a great deal darker, but it was almost a relief at this point.  
“Thank you,” I said softly. Haseul nodded and stepped backwards, humming to herself.  
“What was the rank of the guy who gave you the implant again?” she asked, an oddly cold look in her eyes.  
“Watcher Five,” I answered. “But we can’t kill him. You know what happens if they find out we did it.”  
“We’d ‘conveniently disappear.’ I know, I know,” she sighed. “It just makes me mad, is all. He didn’t consult you on this whatsoever and just put that thing in your head.”  
“I didn’t know you cared that much about me,” I commented, slightly surprised. Haseul always kept to herself and was often critical of my inability to follow through with a ‘kill.’ This level of concern felt unnatural to me.  
“You’re a good kid, Jinsol. Sure, you’re a bit of a wuss, but it makes you more… human, I dunno. Nice to see a bit of humanity in this place.”  
I felt my cheeks grow warm and quickly looked away, not wanting her to see me blush like this.   
“I… thanks, I guess,” I muttered. “It’s nice to have some backup in all this.”   
“No problem. Now get some rest, alright?” she told me, climbing into her own bunk. “We’ll track down the Watcher tomorrow morning.”  
“Mmhm,” I mumbled into my pillow, closing my eye and drifting off to sleep.

“Wake up sleepyhead.”  
I groaned and struggled awake, reaching up to rub the sleep from my eyes and freezing for a second when my fingers felt bandages and metal instead of my left eye.  
That’s right, I lost my eye to that Watcher creep yesterday, I remembered, my heart sinking. With a sigh I slid out of bed and dragged myself over to the closet. Haseul was already dressed and ready to go, fiddling with a small cybernetic slingshot.   
“What time is it?” I asked, rummaging around to find my uniform.   
“8:30 in the morning,” she answered. “I’ve grabbed us a couple of protein bars from the canteen, so we’ll skip breakfast and head straight over to the citadel.”  
“Already?” I raised an eyebrow, surprised. “Don’t we have class this morning?”  
“I’ve already taken care of it. Told the instructors about your ‘training accident’ yesterday, and they’ve given us some time off so I can look after you.”  
“You really do think of everything, huh?” I muttered. “It’s kind of freaky.”  
“Agents have to be prepared for anything, after all,” she said matter-of-factly. “Now come on. The shuttle to Kaas City leaves in fifteen minutes.”  
“Alright, alright!” I hurriedly pulled on my uniform and dashed after Haseul as she strode out of the room.

We stopped by the weapon storage room on our way to the shuttle pads, where Haseul snuck out a few vibroknives and my rifle. I slung it over my shoulder, muttering distastefully. After yesterday’s events, I didn’t particularly feel like using it, but Haseul insisted that we needed to be armed.   
“They might have put the whole place on lockdown, or Watcher Five might try to pull something shady again,” she explained, tucking more knives into her belt.  
“You expect us to fight through a whole bunch of highly trained operatives? You’re crazy,” I scoffed. “And how many fucking knives do you need?”  
“Better to be prepared,” she retorted. “And if we’re lucky, we’ll be able to slip in undetected with...this!” She held up a small device proudly. Without any warning, my implant began to vibrate slightly. I tore off the bandages and winced as it zoomed in on the device Haseul was holding, the words ‘stealth generator’ flashing briefly in my field of vision.  
“Everything ok?” Haseul asked, concerned.  
“This damn thing’s got a weapons sensor or something,” I grumbled. “Started vibrating and saying you’re holding a stealth generator.”  
“Ouch. It’s right, though. We’ll use this to slip into the citadel unnoticed.” She winked and tucked it into a pocket onto her belt. With our raid on the storage done, Haseul readjusted the bandages so they were covering the implant again and snuck off to the shuttle pads. We made it just before it took off, sliding into the backseat as it began to speed off towards Kaas City. Haseul hummed to herself, carefully examining the stealth generator while I stared out at the trees.   
“So we’re just going to sneak in there and turn the place upside down until we find Watcher Five?” I asked Haseul.  
“Well… sort of. He took you to an implant lab, right? Do you remember where it is?”  
“I dunno… Headquarters is pretty confusing, and I wasn’t focusing on where I was going. I just wanted to get out of there.”  
“Mmm… I was kind of banking on you remembering where it was. We’ll just have to ask around.”  
“They’re not going to give away a Watcher’s location to two recruits,” I pointed out.   
“We’ll need a pretty good lie, then,” she replied. I sighed heavily and went back to watching the walls of Kaas City grow closer. 

 

We made it to the doors of the citadel without much trouble. I stood outside the entrance, tapping my foot nervously while Haseul fiddled with the stealth generator.  
“Just a few more clicks and… there we go!” Haseul let out a triumphant whoop and disappeared from view.   
“Now if I can figure out how to cloak multiple people with this… gimme a few more minutes.”  
“Alright, but work fast,” I whispered back. “I feel so… exposed out here.”  
The outside of the citadel was virtually uncovered. We were so high off the ground that any misstep would mean falling to our deaths. Every so often an agent would walk out of the citadel and I’d have to do my best to act natural, but it was hard when Haseul kept muttering next to me while she was invisible.  
“What if I adjust the parameters… aha!” The stealth generator beeped once and I watched as my body seemed to fade from view. There must have been some funky engineering going on with that thing, because I could see Haseul’s faint outline a few meters away. She beckoned for me to follow her into the citadel, and I obliged, trying my best not to trip over my own feet.  
The inside was just as quiet as it was yesterday. A pair of Fixer agents were tinkering with some machinery up the back, but other than that, the foyer was deserted.   
“Ok, here’s what I was thinking,” Haseul whispered to me. “We hang back for a bit, gather some intel, then I pose as an agent bringing Watcher Five some intel and you follow me with the stealth generator. Sound good?”  
I nodded and gave her a thumbs-up, watching anxiously as she wriggled into a corner and sat perfectly still, waving me over. We crouched down, ears straining for any piece of information. Haseul’s eyes were trained on the corridor leading deeper into the citadel, while I tried to pick up snatches of the Fixer agents’ conversation.  
“...the rebellion’s still going strong out near the old colossus,” I heard one of them complain. “Watcher Six has had me on my feet all day repairing surveillance tech.”  
“You think Six is bad?” the other one scoffed. “Try working for Five. The dude barely says anything, just stands there and expects you to know what you’re supposed to be doing without instructions. He’s been sending messengers out all day… only the Emperor could know what that guy is up to.”  
“That’s our ticket!” I whisper-yelled, and Haseul nodded in response. She pressed a few buttons on the stealth generator and materialised into view, handing the device to me.   
“Don’t press any other buttons,” she instructed, “just follow my lead.”  
With that, she turned and strode over to where the Fixers were working.  
“Excuse me, but could you direct me to Watcher Five’s office?” she asked, hands on hips. “I’m carrying vital information from offworld that he’ll want to hear about.”  
“First floor, second door on your left,” one of the Fixers replied without looking up. She nodded and strode off down the corridor, and I sprinted to catch up.  
“You heard that, right?” she whispered.  
“Yeah, first floor, second door on the left. Lead the way.”

We managed to slip into the lift and make our way to the first floor without encountering any trouble, and an uneasy feeling began to form in the pit of my stomach.   
“Hey, Haseul?” I whispered nervously as we crept through the first floor corridors. “Do you think this is all running a bit too smoothly?”  
“Hmm….” She paused to consider what I’d just said. “A bit, yeah. I’d expected us to be gathering intel in the foyer for longer than that.”  
“What if he’s waiting for us when we get there?” I asked, my legs beginning to tremble.  
“You’ve got your rifle and I’ve got my knives and slingshot. If he tries anything, he’ll regret it.”  
I nodded and brought my attention back to the hallway. The implant began to itch again, and I scratched at it absentmindedly, wishing more and more that I’d refused Watcher Five’s offer. The implant was a constant irritation, the cold metal digging into my skin, and the bandage over it kept throwing off my depth perception. I wasn’t used to only being able to use one eye, but it seemed like that was becoming more and more likely if I didn’t get used to the implant fast. That scared me- both options did. I just wanted my old eye back.

“We’re here,” Haseul whispered, and I glanced at the door she’d stopped in front of. It was unmarked, and the nervous feeling in my belly began to grow. What if we’d arrived at the wrong place?   
Haseul didn’t hesitate, however- she grabbed the handle and wrenched the door open, storming inside. And there he was, sitting at a desk in the center of the room and reading through a report on a datapad. Watcher Five glanced up when Haseul entered, eyebrows raised.  
“Yes? Do you need something, cadet?”  
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Haseul replied curtly. “I need you to fix something for me. Now.” There was a steely edge to her voice as her hand crept towards one of the knives on her belt  
“Now, Jinsol,” she whispered to me. Panicking, I pressed a button on the side of the stealth generator and materialised next to Haseul. Watcher Five’s eyes narrowed.  
“Jung Jinsol,” he purred. “Back so soon? Were there issues with your implant?” He gestured to the bandage, and I angrily yanked it off and strode forwards.  
“Take it out,” I growled. “Take it out, or get it to stop hurting or something!”  
Haseul sidled up next to me and pulled out one of the knives, pointing the tip of it at Watcher Five’s chest. He sighed and gently batted the tip away.  
“I see the instructors have taught you how to intimidate a target, Jo Haseul,” he commented. Haseul stiffened, surprised.   
“Please, don’t be so… jumpy. I’ve been observing your cohort for some time, particularly Miss Jung here. Did you ever wonder why I chose her, out of all people, instead of you? The cohort’s ace student, passed over for a sniper who can’t even follow through with a kill?”  
“I don’t think your attention’s worth my time,” she retorted, but there was a hint of uncertainty to her voice. Watcher Five smirked, tapping away at the datapad. I could feel the anger rising in my throat.  
“Stop playing around, Watcher!” I yelled, slamming my hands onto the desk. “Tell me how this thing works, or so help me-”  
“You’ll what?” Watcher Five demanded, his eyes glittering. I pulled out my rifle and trained the barrel right at his forehead, lifting the scope so it lined up with my right eye. I wasn’t used to handling my rifle like this, but I wasn’t going to give him the benefit of seeing me use the implant like he wanted. My hands shook as I brought my finger closer to the trigger, trying to adjust to the new stance. Just a little bit closer…   
But I hesitated. I couldn’t do it. Even though he was a dick, he was a person. I was frozen like a statue, unable to take the shot.   
“Enough,” he sighed, standing up from his desk. “I can’t reverse the procedure, but I can tell you how the implant works. Now put the gun down. Your technique is terrible like that.”   
I bit back a few choice remarks and let my rifle drop, slinging it over my shoulder. Watcher Five picked up a remote and pressed a button. A screen on the back wall switched on, and he scrolled through numerous files until a set of blueprints appeared on the screen.  
“This is your implant, a recent prototype developed by Fixer Twelve. It is composed of three main parts: the lens, the casing and the wiring,” he explained, gesturing to each part in turn before pressing another button. The screen switched to display a series of x-rays.  
“Hold up.” I raised my hand and pointed at the screen. “Is that… me?”  
“Astute observation, Jung Jinsol. The x-rays are indeed of you post-operation. Now, if you’ll let me finish.” He shot a glare in my direction, then continued with his explanation.   
“The implant connects to the eye socket in several places. One main wire is linked to the optic nerve, allowing what the implant sees to be processed by your brain. Several other wires are connected to the muscles and nerves surrounding the socket, allowing the lens to dilate, contract and move in tandem with your right eye. The implant has small shutters that respond and cover the lens when you close your right eye, but not when you blink- that would be too distracting. The implant is fused with your skin in three places.” He gestured to the inner corner of the implant and two smaller ‘prongs’ on the other side of my face. “It may be possible to remove the casing, but if you attempt to disconnect the wiring, it could tear the tissues around your eye socket. We wouldn’t want that now, would we?” Watcher Five chuckled darkly, and Haseul pulled another knife from her belt.  
“Anything else?” she asked threateningly, and Watcher Five coughed awkwardly.  
“A couple more points, if you will. The implant cannot be permanently switched off unless your right eye is also closed. There is also a small jack near your ear where a wire can connect the implant with your rifle.” He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a small cord and what looked like… a custom scope?  
“Make sure these are attached to your rifle before you use it. The scope was specially constructed with the implant in mind,” he instructed, offering them to me. I took them and nodded, stashing them in a pocket on my belt. I’d fiddle with them back at the academy.  
“I believe that is all I have to tell you. Now go.” With a wave of a hand, he dismissed us, his attention turned back to the datapad. I opened my mouth, ready to shoot back with some snarky remark, but Haseul sheathed her knives and grabbed me by the arm.  
“Come on, Jinsol. Let’s head back to the dorms.”  
With a sigh, I obliged, following her out of Watcher Five’s office and towards the shuttle pads.

“Well that was a load of shit,” I groaned as we slipped back inside our dorm, angrily tossing my rifle onto my bed.   
“We did get some useful information out of him,” Haseul pointed out, stashing the knives inside her desk drawer. “At least we know how your implant works.”  
“Mmhm.” I glanced at the scope and cord, sighing regretfully. Haseul frowned and sat down next to me.   
“You doing okay, Jinsol?”  
“As well as I can be, I guess,” I replied, wringing my hands. “This all just feels like an awful nightmare.”  
She didn’t say anything in response to that, just shuffled a little closer and cupped her hand under my chin, staring into my eyes.  
“...it’s kind of fascinating when you look at it closely,” she commented absentmindedly, running her fingers lightly along the perimeter of the implant. I flinched and batted her hand away instinctively- it still felt weird and invasive, having someone’s hands near that area that weren’t my own. Haseul frowned and looked at me quizzically.  
“...after what Watcher Five did to me, I don’t think I’m ready for anyone to touch near there,” I told her.  
“I know, I know, sorry.” She let her hands drop and turned away, blushing slightly. “It’s just… I dunno, kind of…oddly intriguing, despite the circumstances. We’ll get through this, though, okay?”  
“...yeah,” I said softly, leaning sideways and resting my head on her shoulder. She flinched slightly, but relaxed, patting my shoulder. I closed my eye, a wave of relief washing through my body when the implant shut off as well.  
Maybe things were going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twitter: @hyekami  
> curiouscat: hyekami


End file.
